Acupuncture has been an important component of traditional Chinese medicine and increasingly accepted in Western countries as a form of alternative medicine. This growing acceptance of acupuncture is largely attributed to its therapeutic effects (e.g., effectiveness in pain relief) that can be achieved without substantial discomfort for the patient and difficulty for the practitioner. However, the fundamental theory of acupuncture remains mysterious because it has yet been proven by modern science. The lack of a scientific approach to the practice of acupuncture has prevented common application of acupuncture in many potentially effective areas beyond a few applications such as pain control.